Cabin Club - Westlake, OH

Heading back from our Christmas in Syracuse, NY, Mrs. JiLS and I stayed in Westlake, OH (~12 miles west of Cleveland) just so I could take her to an old traveling standby of mine, the Cabin Club. During the 1990s, I regularly had business in Westlake, and the Cabin Club was a business dinner destination for me at the time. A former beer-and-a-shot place that served the factories that once were more predominant in the area, the Cabin Club literally is a log cabin converted into a white-tablecloth restaurant. I loved it back then and am pleased to report that the Cabin Club remains a top choice for dining west of Cleveland, in some ways (e.g., the wine service) better than I recalled.

The first rule of Cabin Club is, you don't talk about Cabin Club. Why not? Because it is tiny. The dining room is the size of one of the four-Audi garages attached to the McMansions now filling this once blue collar suburb. Cabin Club seats at most maybe 50 patrons, and (kudos to them) still devotes about 25% of its floor space to the bar. Cabin Club is essentially a steakhouse, but the prices and presentation are both more down to earth than what you might expect in that category. For example, $30 bought me a perfectly cooked, wet-aged, 16-oz bone-in strip steak; but it also paid for soup, a side of potato pancakes and fantastic fresh-baked bread. Combine this with friendly service and an excellent, affordable wine list, and you're all set for a great night out in the suburbs.

Downtown Cleveland has many very fine restaurants (we found one of them open Christmas Eve, for example), but I'd recommend travelers consider Cabin Club first. It's unique and charming, it serves excellent food at great prices, and it's also not all that far-flung from downtown. (As we proved, you can get to the Velvet Tango Room in 15 minutes from Cabin Club.) Highly recommended.

Agree with your assessment of the Cabin Club. We used to entertain clients at the Cabin Club and if you can get a reservations at the restaurant, the food is excellent and a relative bargain for the quality of the food and the excellent service.

I grew up in Westlake and the Cabin Club has always been known to be one of the top restaurants on the west side of Cleveland. I'm happy to hear that it is still doing it's thing.